J.J. Deveraux
Jack Patrick "JJ" Deveraux, Jr. is a fictional character from the original NBC soap opera, Days of Our Lives. Born onscreen in 2004, the character was portrayed by several child actors between 2004 and 2006. In 2013, Casey Moss joined the cast as a rapidly aged JJ. JJ is the son of supercouple Jack Deveraux and Jennifer Horton and younger brother of Abigail Deveraux. The character is a member of the original core family, the Horton family as well as the Johnson family. JJ shares a connection to several of the show's most popular characters and is considered to be a legacy character. JJ's first significant storyline launched in 2013 focused on his rebellion following his father's death and his feud with his mother's new boyfriend, Dr. Daniel Jonas. Casting Though he is born on September 3, 2004, the role was originated by Tyler Lake on November 12, 2004. Lake last appeared on December 20, 2004. Siblings Jake and Nick Ravo on April 25, 2005 and last appeared in October of that year. Jacob and Micah Reeves stepped into the role in December 2005 and last appeared on September 21, 2006. Casey Moss first auditioned for the role in October 2012, and screen tested with Melissa Reeves, who plays Jennifer Horton, in November. Moss began taping in January 2013. In March 2013, Moss was spotted in a cast photo published by The News Tribune next to Reeves. Immediately fans began speculating who he could with some assuming Moss was the new JJ. Fan speculation went into overdrive when another new cast member, Jen Lilley tweeted about Moss joining the cast and told fans to follow the actor on Twitter. NBC eventually confirmed that Moss had been cast as JJ. Moss first appeared offscreen on May 6, 2013 and in person on May 7, 2013. Development Upon Moss's debut, the character's age is revised to 17 placing his birth in 1995. Moss's JJ was described as Jack and Jennifer's "troubled teenage son," who returns from boarding school in London with a chip on his shoulder. CBS Soaps In Depth hinted that JJ would be in very heavy story. According Moss, JJ is acting out because he is "in a state of confusion." Moss also explained that JJ's actions are because he is "still troubled by his father's death." Moss described the character as "very loving" and also "heartbroken." Upon his re-introduction, JJ is "all over the place and doesn't really know who he is yet." Moss revealed to Soap Opera Digest that JJ is going through the process of "becoming a man." In the midst of JJ's scheming, the series introduced Kevin Riggin as JJ's partner in crime Rory. The two begin selling drugs to make quick cash. JJ falls in with the wrong crowd because he longs to feel a connection. However, JJ does not have to worry about forming a "real bond", Moss told Soap Opera Digest. Abigail is immediately concerned but JJ resents his sister and mother as "he doesn't feel they grieved his father's death." JJ's anger reaches a climax when he gets into an altercation with Daniel but according Moss, JJ had been looking for a fight. Soaps In Depth referred to Moss's character as "Hurricane JJ!" His return home isn't what he expected and he is uncomfortable that his mother has moved on. JJ feels that his family has "forgotten" about Jack. Though Jack wasn't always physically present, JJ felt a "sense of security" knowing his father was at least out there somewhere. When he finally does come, JJ does not feel that anymore. JJ definitely wants his mother to find happiness again but he feels it is too soon. Of the circumstances surrounding JJ's return, Moss hinted that there is more to JJ's story. According to Moss, JJ is at a point in his life where he is still good kid, who is making bad choices. Character History Jack Patrick Deveraux was born on Melaswen after his mother, Jennifer, went in search of his father, Jack, who was believed murdered by the Salem Stalker nearly nine months before his birth. He nearly lost his life on numerous occasions, but luckily made it back to Salem alive and well. He is named after his father, Jack, and Patrick Lockhart, the man who helped bring him into the world. When Jack and Jennifer reunited, they accepted jobs as reporters for a London newspaper. When Jack and Jennifer returned to Salem in 2011, J.J. stayed in London and attended boarding school. When Jack died in 2012, Jennifer and Abigail went to London to visit J.J. He announced that he wanted to start going by "Jack" to honor his father. In April 2013, J.J. returned to Salem a few weeks early before the end of his semester. Jennifer and Abigail were thrilled to see him, but Jennifer soon learned the real reason that J.J. was home early. He'd been kicked out of school for selling marijuana. J.J. denied it, blaming it all on his roommate. Jennifer said she'd get to the bottom of it, but in the mean time, ordered him to enroll in summer school at Salem U. J.J. also did not approve of his mother's new relationship with Daniel and began acting out. Jennifer thought that J.J.'s odd behavior was stemming from the fact that J.J. was still grieving for his father, but she didn't know the extend of J.J.'s actions. He started getting high, slashing Daniel's tires and windows, and breaking Daniel's and Parker's things. J.J. also continued to slip further into drug use and distribution. He stole prescription drug samples from the hospital to sell and tried to steal Cameron's prescription pad. He also became friends with Theresa Donovan, who became one of his clients as well. The two shared a flirtation, much to Jennifer's dismay. Trying to score money for drugs, J.J. and his friends robbed an electronics store. While walking through the town square, one of J.J.'s friends made a hurtful comment about Alice and Tom Horton and J.J. got into a fight with the friend. When the police came to break up the fight, they found the stolen merchandise. J.J. was taken into the station, but Justin was able to get J.J. released back into his mother's care. But, J.J. was still angry. Jennifer was so frustrated with him that she finally tried some tough love and told J.J. to move out of her house. She was done supporting him. J.J. made it his mission to break up Daniel and Jennifer and would tell everyone how terrible Daniel was. When ranting to Kayla about how Daniel would never be the man Jack was, Kayla let it slip that Jack was no saint. J.J. pressed her for more information, but she told him to go talk to his mother. J.J. got a little more information from Adrienne, but found out the truth by going home and reading the transcript from Lawrence Alamain's trial -- Jack had raped Kayla years ago. J.J. was furious, both with the news and the idea that everyone had kept this information from him. He ran to the town square and threw a chair through the bookstore window, destroying a display of Jack's book. He got into a physical altercation with a man trying to stop him and was arrested for assault and vandalism. The judge ordered J.J. to move back in with Jennifer and would suspend his sentence, giving J.J. a chance to show the court that he had changed. J.J. agreed in court, but immediately left as soon as he went home, telling Jennifer that she was a liar and he didn't want to be around her. He ended up at Theresa's house one night and the two of them smoked marijuana together. Theresa suggested taking a liquid ecstasy, known as G, before they slept together. J.J. didn't want to take the drug, so Theresa took both her and J.J.'s drinks and overdosed. She passed out. Worried that she seriously hurt herself, J.J. picked up Theresa's phone and called Daniel to come help. Knowing that being caught with an overdosed female in his company would send J.J. right to prison, Daniel ordered J.J. to leave through the backstairs and not to tell anyone that he was there. Then, Daniel tended to Theresa, arriving at the hospital with her. When he arrived, everyone assumed that he had given Theresa the drugs because the two of them were sleeping together. A stunned and scared J.J. went back home and told Jennifer and Abigail that he was done with drugs and was home for good. Jennifer was thrilled. J.J. also apologized to Daniel for putting Daniel in the position to have to let other people think that Daniel was sleeping with Theresa. Daniel told J.J. to keep you the guise that the two of them don't get along so that no one will suspect that J.J. was with Theresa doing drugs the night she overdosed. Theresa seemingly took steps to make herself better, including talking to Maggie about attending NA and apologizing to Daniel. But the truth was that Theresa remembered everything that happened that night and was just pretending to have amnesia in order to drive a wedge between Jennifer and Daniel, thus making Jennifer's life worse. When J.J. finally confessed to Theresa that he was the one who was with her the night that she overdosed, she laughed at him and told him that she was faking all along. J.J. was furious with her and wanted to tell everyone that it wasn't Daniel with her when she overdosed. But, Theresa showed J.J. a video she made that night of J.J. smoking weed. She threatened to send the video to the judge if J.J. didn't do exactly what she said. (J.J. was on probation, awaiting a formal sentencing from assault and disturbing the peace charges.) J.J. knew that he needed to do something to stop Theresa. So, he arranged for her to find a hospital check that was made out to Abigail. Theresa hired a guy to produce a fake hospital ID that identified Theresa as Abigail. Theresa took the check and her fake ID to an office supply store and bought debit gift cards, claiming they were for an employee incentive program. As the clerk grabbed the debit gift cards and rang them up for her, J.J. entered the store, surprising Theresa. He informed her that the clerk was actually a friend of his and her whole scheme was caught on the store's security cameras. He told her that they were even -- she couldn't release the video she had of him without him releasing the one he had of her. Theresa was furious. Meanwhile, J.J. received his sentence of community service. While he was originally supposed to serve it at the hospital, Anne stepped in and made sure that he was assigned elsewhere -- pick up trash on the Horton Square. While on duty, he noticed a pretty girl picking up trash too. She was Paige Larson, a clean-cut schoolmate of J.J.'s who got excellent grades and dreamed of going to college. The two flirted. But, when Paige's friend Mary Beth saw J.J., she urged Paige to stay away from him. Likewise, J.J.'s friends told him that Paige was boring and he shouldn't waste time on her. But, J.J. kept pursuing Paige. Eventually, she agreed to go on a date with him. He confessed to her that his past had not been easy. He told her why he was doing community service. He introduced her to his mom and Daniel. And, he told her that Daniel was important to him because of the part Daniel played in protecting J.J. the night that Theresa overdosed. His honesty paid off and he and Paige began dating exclusively. But little did J.J. know that Paige's mother was Eve Larson, Theresa's half-sister and Jennifer's high school rival. Even was back in town with more news for Jennifer. According to Eve, part of her annulment agreement with Jack was that Eve got part of the rights to all of his earnings for long form projects. This included Jack's book. Jennifer was furious with the news because she had been donating all of the proceeds from the book to a veterans charity. Eve insisted that Jennifer could do what ever she wanted with her half of the money, but the other half belonged to Eve. Just wanting the situation to go away, Jennifer offered Eve a settlement of half of everything from here on out. But, Eve didn't want the settlement. She wanted to be able to negotiate for more money from the studios who wanted the screen rights to Jack's book. So, Eve took Jennifer to court. The lawsuit was hard on Paige. She was worried about how this would affect her relationship with J.J. She also worried that her mom wouldn't be able to afford Stanford without winning the lawsuit. So, to solve both problems, Paige decided to defer her admission to Stanford for a year and attend Salem U. Even though Eve had bonded with J.J. over their mutual love of music, Eve was not happy. Eve's problems got worse when she learned that her case against Jennifer was not as strong as she thought and reluctantly took a low settlement from Jennifer -- which included the provision that Eve not speak publicly about the case or Jack. Determined to take her revenge on Jennifer out another way, Eve decided that J.J. should not be allowed to date Paige. One day, she saw a petty thief named Jill try to steal a wallet at Club TBD. Eve filmed the act and then confronted Jill. But Eve was willing to make Jill a deal -- get a photo of J.J. cheating on Paige and Eve won't turn the video over to the cops. Eve also offered to pay Jill. Jill agreed. Eve also enlisted the help of Paige's best friend, Marybeth, to help with the plan. Jill got herself invited to the big Salem U party. J.J. and Paige were there. While at the party, Marybeth faked an injury and asked Paige to take her to the emergency room. After they left, Jill drugged J.J.'s drink. When he passed out, she took his shirt off and posed with him on a park bench. Then, she sent the image to Eve and Paige. However, when Paige confronted J.J. with the picture, he said that he had been drugged. Paige believed him. Eve tried to tell her that J.J. was obviously a bad guy, but Paige wouldn't believe her. Just as things were looking clear for J.J. and Paige, he began to have problems dealing with his dad's past -- mainly, when Paige learned that J.J.'s aunt Kayla had been raped. J.J. felt that he had to tell Paige that his father was the one who raped his aunt. But, Eve beat J.J. to it when Paige overheard Kayla and Eve arguing about Jack. Paige wanted to talk to J.J. immediately. But, when she received a text with photos of J.J. drinking and talking to other girls at a part, Paige became furious with J.J. She confronted him with everything at once and told him that they needed to take a break. That same night, Eve when she learned that the vocal surgery she'd moved to Salem to get in the first place could not happen. Eve was crushed and drowned her sorrows in multiple glasses of wine. J.J. went over to Paige's house to settle things with her, but he found a drunk Eve there instead. She had been crying and told him that she'd never be able to sing again. He sympathized with her. And the two ended up in bed together. They both immediately regretted it. But, J.J. couldn't leave because Paige had gotten home. She saw a man's jacked on one of the kitchen chairs but did not know it was J.J.'s.